The Wire – Week 14: Who's Starting Vince Young in the Playoffs?

Here are our waiver wire candidates for week fourteen. As usual, you’ll find players who are either [Startable], a [Stopgap] to get you past a BYE or injury, [Worth a look] and spot on your bench, or [One-week-wonder]s who don’t warrant a roster spot, so you make your roster moves accordingly. You’ll also see the percent owned in parenthesis. This week we start off with a few quarterbacks who’s play has improved dramatically over the next few weeks. Early in the season, did you ever imagine starting Alex Smith or Vince Young (or Bruce Gradkowski?) in the playoffs? Me neither.

Quarterbacks

[Startable]Vince Young, TEN (60%) – Apparently Vince Young can throw the ball, which is something I wasn’t aware of until about two weeks ago. He now has 628 yards and three touchdowns in the past two games and should have a great game against the Rams this week.

[Startable]Alex Smith, SF (59%) – He’s been one of the best quarterbacks in the league over the past three games (and was probably in the free agent pool of your league for the majority of that span!) As long as the 49ers continue to spread the field and throw a lot, Smith can put up solid numbers.

[Stopgap]Kyle Orton, DEN (75%) – I’m not high on his match-ups over the next three weeks (@IND, OAK, @PHI,) but maybe he’s the best you have to offer.

[Stopgap]David Garrard, JAX (71%) – Garrard now has two decent passing games in a row and could do alright this weekend against Miami.

[Stopgap]Matt Hasselbeck, SEA (75%) – Hasselbeck has been one of the most frustrating quarterbacks this year, but if you want to take a gamble, he has nice match-ups with Houston and Tampa Bay over the next two weeks.

[Worth a look]Bruce Gradkowski, OAK (3%) – Gradkowski is a 500% improvement over JaMarcus Russell, but I’m still not starting him against the Redskins this weekend.

[One-week-wonder]Jason Campbell, WAS (28%) – Even with a 367 yard, three touchdown game against the Saints, I’m still not a believer.

[One-week-wonder]Brady Quinn, CLE (7%) – Jeykll and Hyde. He’s too risky to use with the championship on the line.

[One-week-wonder]Michael Vick, PHI (4%) – I’m assuming Vick was on the field a lot because he was playing his old team. Even if he played more in the next few games, unless you have some crazy QB-flex spot, he’s not worth the start.

Wide Receivers

[Startable]Pierre Garcon, IND (82%) – Garcon has outperformed teammate Reggie Wayne over the past few games and is still available in about one fifth of the leagues out there.

[Startable]Robert Meachem, NO (77%) – Alright, after racking up 142 yards and a score against the vaunted Washington defense (and after six touchdowns in the last five games,) Meachem should be owned universally.

[Stopgap]Devery Henderson, NO (67%) – Henderson is still getting plenty of looks each week, but his failure to find the endzone the way his teammate does is the difference between the Startable and Stopgap tags.

[Stopgap]Donnie Avery, STL (56%) – Keep an eye on his shoulder injury before putting him in your line-up.

[Stopgap]Kenny Britt, TEN (50%) – He’s a “must own” in keeper leagues; plus, Britt has a touchdown in three straight games and is one of Vince Young’s favorite targets.

[Worth a look]Antonio Bryant, TB (64%) – I’m sure Yahoo! is proud after featuring Antonio Bryant on their fantasy football website as a guy ready to go big, then watching him go out and catch five passes for 116 yards. While maybe we didn’t have the same foresight (and his match-up this weekend is brutal…Darrelle Revis anyone?) he is still someone worth a WR3 or flex play if you’re struggling to fill out your roster for a big playoff game.

[Worth a look]Davone Bess, MIA (14%) – Bess is like Wes Welker-very-lite. He won’t rack up the touchdowns, but he does get a lot of receptions. He has some decent match-ups down the stretch as well if you’re in a PPR league.

[Worth a look]James Jones, GB (11%) – Although inconsistent, he could put up some decent numbers in your league’s playoffs with games @CHI, @PIT and at home versus Seattle in week 16.

[Worth a look]Josh Morgan, SF (6%) – It seems like overnight that the 49ers discovered that they had a passing game, but Morgan isn’t complaining. He now has 12 catches over the past two games and had a touchdown last week.

[Worth a look]Devin Thomas, WAS (6%) – He had the game of his career against the Saints, with seven catches, 100 yards and two scores, but Thomas has shown some flashes this year and is a big keeper league candidate.

[Worth a look]Louis Murphy, OAK (4%) – Murphy racked up most of his points last week on a 75 touchdown bomb, but he’s obviously got some speed. Like Devin Thomas, he’s primarily a keeper league prospect at this point.

[Worth a look]Chaz Schilens, OAK (2%) – Keep an eye on these Raiders receivers, as they have a solid match-up in week 16 against the Browns in what could be your league’s championship.

[One-week-wonder]Earl Bennett, CHI (29%) – Bennett scored his first touchdown of the season and will be lucky to find the endzone again this year in what has become a joke of a Bears passing game these past few weeks.

Running Backs

[Stopgap]Mike Bell, NO (67%) – He’s getting a fair number of carries each week, but unless he scores a touchdown, Bell doesn’t have a whole lot of value to your team.

[Stopgap]Rock Cartwright, WAS (65%) – Great match-up with the Raiders this weekend…just beware that he has run like crap over the past few weeks.

[Stopgap]Jerome Harrison, CLE (32%) – Probably got lucky with two receiving touchdowns last week, but with Jamal Lewis out for the year, Harrison seems to be the starter for the Browns and has a nice playoff schedule (PIT, @KC, OAK.)

[Worth a look]Carnell Williams, TB (80%) – Had his biggest game of the season (in terms of combined yards) against the Panthers, but has a tough match-up with the Jets this week.

[One-week-wonder]Marshawn Lynch, BUF (79%) – It has to be very frustrating for Fred Jackson when the team finally denotes him the starter, then he gets outplayed by Lynch. Don’t get too excited about Beast Mode though, as he only has nine carries and two receptions combined over the past two games.

[One-week-wonder]Correll Buckhalter, DEN (58%) – Just when you’re ready to write Buckhalter off for dead, he rushes for 113 yards. He’ll continue to split carries with Knowshon Moreno, but he’s the less attractive of the two in terms of fantasy potential.

[Stopgap]Fred Davis, WAS (32%) – Davis has a touchdown in two straight weeks now and is obviously one of Campbell’s primary targets when they get in the redzone (which isn’t very often.)

[Worth a look]Jermichael Finley, GB (34%) – He can only catch a touchdown on Monday Night Football (where he has three this year.) Maybe he can break that trend against the Bears this weekend though.

[Worth a look]Bo Scaife, TEN (12%) – Scaife now has 10 catches, 124 yards and a touchdown in the past two games. With Tennessee throwing the ball more (or at least more effectively,) Bo Scaife is reaping the benefits as Vince Young’s safety valve.

Hard to sit McNabb against a Giants defense that just got lit up by Tony Romo. Plus, if you actually look at the last few games the Rams of played, they haven’t been all that bad against the pass (shut down Hasselbeck and Cutler.) Stick with McNabb.

Wanted to know your thoughts on my playoff roster:
– At RB I have SJax, Wells, Charles, F Jackson, & Forsett. Thinking about swapping someone for Harrison, as a posible week 15 option should something happen (like SJax’s back finally caving in). Maybe FredJack, or Forsett if it looks like they’ll be sticking to Jones….?
– At WR, Welker, Austin, Ocho, SimsWalker, Smith(NYG). Meacham is available. Worth swapping one for him – will Ocho shine again?
– D/ST – GB & CIN, who do you like going forward? (can also grab DEN, CAR, ARI)
And for the rest:
– TE – Witten & Shiancoe
– K is always the flavor of the week, and Q is Brees.

Big question about whether I’m safer carrying 2 QBs in case Brees gets hurt (would grab Smith), but I’d have to drop something (probably the extra D/ST, hard to part with the others) Are there 2 D’s worth carrying, or do you think I can safely stick with one (probably GB this week, at least)

You’re pretty stacked at WR.. They’re all #1’s on their respective teams. At this point, the only guy I would consider swapping is Steve Smith (NYG) for Meachem since he plays for an offensive juggernaut.

It might not be a huge upgrade, but feel free to drop Forsett for Harrison. At least you’re assured he’ll get some carries. At wide receiver, I agree with E-Roc on Steve Smith. He hasn’t found the endzone a whole lot lately and actually has some pretty bad match-ups down the stretch (PHI, WAS, CAR.) I like Witten at tight end and love the Packers defense this week against Jay “Interception Machine” Cutler.

Although there are some hip injury worries, Kurt Warner should be good to go on Monday and with the weapons he has at receiver, you have to start him over Alex Smith. This will all change if you find out that Warner is looking less likely to play later in the week, but for now plan on starting the old man.

Although Miami is great against the run, MJD can still receive some passes, he should remain #1… I think the Colts will start resting starters, and Denver is quite tough for Addai. Cartwright will get a million touches and might score 0 TDs… and McGahee could score 3 in 3 carries! Oh boy…

For WRs I am only positive about Moss… Steve Smith *might* be ok against Brown and Samuel… it seems Young can throw the ball, so Britt has potential to wreck the Rams. I don’t like Rice against the Bengals and Maclin was dissapointing.

PD: Hoping to pick up Heap and Ravens to replace Olsen and Vikings… Baltimore’s schedule is pretty soft for the rest of the season.

Go with Jones-Drew and Cartwright (and hope he gets lucky against a bad Oakland run defense.) At receiver go with Moss, Britt (worth a gamble) and either Meachem or Smith, depending on if you got Meachem.

Hah, didn’t mean to make you second guess yourself, but you’re good to go with Romo anyways. He’s coming off two good performances in a row and plays a Chargers defense that just got beat up by the Browns of all teams.

At wide receiver, you might bench Kenny Britt, even if he has been playing well lately with Vince Young. If he doesn’t catch touchdowns in two of the last three games, he finishes with pretty bad numbers actually, so he’s a gamble.

Greetings! I’m having a tough time week, finally moved into 4th in our standings, and working to protect that spot and make a team good enough to give some of our overpowered teams a run for their money come weeks 15-17 and I could use some assistance. Here’s my lineup.

Last week I finally benched Jacobs having moved in Britt into my lineup instead, figuring it was finally time, and it really came back to bite me. I’ve got one empty spot on my roster and would be more than willing to make some moves should there be some options deemed better. There are few availabilities at the QB position (Gradkowski, Boller, Moore being really the only real choices..and not necessarily good ones.) TE Miller’s stock has certainly fallen in the last few weeks, and I’m wondering if Scaife, Finley or Carlson might not be better choices here? (All are available.) Also, I’m not sure about WRs in the next few weeks, since Bess, Breaston, Bryant and Devin Thomas are all available.

I’m a little confused about the empty QB spot you mention. I’m assuming you obviously want to pick up a quarterback and plug him in there. Is Chad Henne or Ryan Fitzpatrick available? I like them more than the guys you mention. If not, then I guess I’d go with Bruce Gradkowski (even though he’s one of my “misses” this week) and hope he continues where he left off last week.

With DeSean Jackson most likely playing, I’d plug in Brandon Jacobs for Jason Avant as well.

Finally, stick with Heath Miller, who is my tight end “hit” this week.

Sorry for not clarifying that empty spot. I had Sanchez in there previously, and he’s hurt this week. Henne and Fitzpatrick are both already taken as well. 2 QBs and 12 people make for slim QB pickings…

Stick with Gradkowski. Moore is an enticing option considering how bad the Patriots defense has been lately, but they’re playing at home and should be a lot better against the Panthers (considering they only have to cover one receiver!)

In terms of picking up a backup quarterback, there really isn’t a whole lot of season left and you won’t be benching Rodgers unless he gets hurt (knock on wood.) If you’re going to drop anyone, I guess you could drop Gostkowski, since you probably don’t need him anymore with Hartley playing now.